Really need some help here...

[TheSwampFox]

Saltwater is a new endeavor I've been going into for the past few months, and I am now at the point I'm pulling my hair out, so I need some expert advice...

So I have a 75 gallon tank I bought used off Craigslist... turns out the darn thing has a Model 75 wet/dry (old school wet dry filter) and I don't feel it's actually FILTERING the water. Luckily I have about 50 lbs of live rock for filtration and the tank is staying stable (nitrate ppm is never above 30 at the most, ammonia and nitrite at 0).

I have a dragon wrasse, snowflake eel, and Marine betta in my tank. I love them and want to keep them, and here is a plan I am trying to do to make their lives better.

I am getting a 220 Gallon soon to move my freshwater stock into and am wanting to move my saltwater tank into my old freshwater 75.

The freshwater 75 is undrilled so I figure I will have to buy a canister filter (XP3) in addition to the to Penguin 350B HOB filters I have for the tank. A brand new XP3 would filter the tank MUCH more than that old wet/dry is doing IMO, how do you guys feel about it?

And for everyone who is going to say it, I know the Dragon Wrasse probably needs to be in a bigger tank... I'll probably trade it in to the LFS when it gets to that point but my fiancee loves the Snowflake Moray and the Marine Betta so they have to stay.

Thanks for any advice on what to do, I am looking forward to your opinions.
EDIT: By the way, I have an Aqua C Remora Protein Skimmer, forgot to mention that.

 

[TMartinez]

IMO a quality skimmer and LR will be all you need...

Canister filters are overrated on sw...

However what I would do is get a sump for the 75 you are putting them in. Instead of drilling the tank use an overflow box...

 

[Wiggles92]

Don't get a canister filter; they're not very well suited for saltwater applications. Just make a better sump for the aquarium and get an appropriate-sized overflow box, too. Be sure to use chaeto algae in place of a wet/dry in the sump. Remember that some of the principles for freshwater filtration don't carry over to saltwater filtration; you'll be dealing with a need for more biological filtration in the case of saltwater.

Live rock and a protein skimmer are your best friends when it comes to filtering a saltwater aquarium; they'll take care of much of the filtering duties. Add at least another 20-25 lbs. of high quality live rock or just add the same amount of base rock in order to help with the filtration and overall look of the aquarium.

What do you have as far as a cleaner crew goes? What do you have as far as lighting goes? What's your substrate?

 

[TheSwampFox]

Don't get a canister filter; they're not very well suited for saltwater applications. Just make a better sump for the aquarium and get an appropriate-sized overflow box, too. Be sure to use chaeto algae in place of a wet/dry in the sump. Remember that some of the principles for freshwater filtration don't carry over to saltwater filtration; you'll be dealing with a need for more biological filtration in the case of saltwater.

Live rock and a protein skimmer are your best friends when it comes to filtering a saltwater aquarium; they'll take care of much of the filtering duties. Add at least another 20-25 lbs. of high quality live rock or just add the same amount of base rock in order to help with the filtration and overall look of the aquarium.

What do you have as far as a cleaner crew goes? What do you have as far as lighting goes? What's your substrate?

Aragonite Substrate, T5 Lighting, and no clean up crew (my wrasse and eel eat them).

 

[Wiggles92]

Aragonite Substrate, T5 Lighting, and no clean up crew (my wrasse and eel eat them).

Okay, sounds good minus the part about the wrasse and eel eating the clean up crew. Now do they eat both snails and hermits or just one or the other? You also might be able to get away with urchins and sea stars if they don't eat those. The main thing is to avoid having detritus build up from leftover food and fish waste.

 

[BradT85]

I run an XP3 on my reef tank and I don't know why people hate on canisters so much. Just like everything else in this hobby, you have to keep on the maintenance and clean it regularly. It does a great job polishing the water and adds flow and surface agitation.

I just have the 4 stock filter pads and carbon in it. No reason to have bio media in it. It takes me 5 minutes tops to clean the XP3 and thats whats so great about it.

Why dont you build your own sump and just replace the old wet dry though? You could probably build a sump for less than the new filter costs, especially if your tank is already plumbed.

 

[FLESHY]

+1 you can easily rip out a wetdry IMO and make it into a sump.